The present invention relates to IC test equipment for testing IC elements.
IC elements are classified into various types according to their terminal lead-off configuration. Of them, an IC element of the type having terminals led out from four sides of a flat plastic mold is particularly difficult to convey on a rail and what is called a horizontal carrier system using a tray has been employed for such IC elements. In the horizontal carrier system the tray loaded with a plurality of IC elements is brought to the vicinity of testing stations. The IC elements thus transported by the tray are each carried to the testing station by an IC chuck carrier provided with a chuck head supported by an X-Y driving mechanism and then mounted on an IC socket for electrical connection therethrough with a tester.
The IC chuck carrier is usually equipped with one chuck head, by which the IC elements are transferred, one at a time, from the tray to the testing stations. With such a structure which conveys the IC elements one by one to the testing stations, it is difficult to achieve a high-speed operation. In the case where a plurality of chuck heads are provided for speeding up the operation, a difference between the pitch of arrangement of IC elements on the tray and the pitch of arrangement of the testing stations poses a problem. For instance, when the chuck heads are arranged at the same pitch as that of the IC elements on the tray, a plurality of IC elements are chucked by the plurality of chuck heads at one time but they are mounted one by one on the testing stations. Where the chuck heads are arranged at the same pitch as that of the testing stations, the IC elements on the tray are chucked one by one but can be mounted on the testing stations at one time.
Thus, even if the IC chuck carrier is provided with a plurality of chuck heads, an inefficient operation is inevitably involved in the handling of IC elements either on the tray or on the testing station side, because of the difference between the pitch of arrangement of IC elements on the tray and the pitch of arrangement of the testing stations. Accordingly, it is hard to achieve the speed-up simply by providing a plurality of chuck heads. In this instance, it might be considered possible to arrange IC elements on the tray at the same pitch as that of the testing stations, but since there are formed a large number of wiring patterns in the testing stations (many wiring patterns being provided around the IC sockets), it is difficult to dispose a plurality of testing stations in close proximity to one another. On this account, if the pitch of arrangement of IC elements on the tray is selected equal to the pitch of arrangement of the testing stations, then the tray becomes large, introducing a disadvantage such as an increase in overall size of the test equipment or a decrease in the number of IC elements that can be carried at one time.